Rumour mills in YSR Congress are working overtime to ensure that the word doesn’t get out that its Ongole leader is upset with YSRCP President Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy. Apparently, Jagan has clarified that Y.V. Subba Reddy who is an important leader in the party and a relative to YS family, will not get the Ongole Parliamentary seat.

Y.V Subba Reddy happens to be the husband of Y.S. Vijayamma’s own sister. Also, he played a crucial role during former Chief Minister Y.S Rajasekhar Reddy where he managed the party affairs well. In the 2014 elections, despite having another family member contest for Ongole Parliament seat, Jagan gave it to Y.V Subba Reddy despite his relative Balineni Srinivas Reddy also seeking the same ticket. However, Subba Reddy won while Srinivas Reddy lost.

However, as an MP, Subba Reddy has earned considerable goodwill among people as well as in the party with his work. Amidst this, there have been differences between Balineni and Subba Reddy while the latter was additionally given responsibility to chalk out party’s strategies in various districts by YSRCP Chief.

Additionally, after the entry of Daggubati and his son as well as Amanchi from TDP, there are rumours that TDP’s Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy also may join YSRCP. While Magunta has been making statements that he will stick to TDP, YSRCP cadre believes that his shift to the party can happen at any moment and is reportedly confirmed.

While the party cadre is gossiping that YV may be confined to looking after party affairs, Subba Reddy is determined that he will contest from Ongole Parliamentary seat again. With the rumours doing rounds about Magunta, he immediately held a press conference recently and declared that he will not only be contesting the upcoming elections from Ongole Parliamentary segment but also confirmed that he will do it in 2024 elections also.

This press conference has apparently upset YSRCP President who immediately called Subba Reddy to his residence. Subba Reddy who visited Jagan with his family members expressed his displeasure about Magunta’s entry. On the other hand, responding to Subba Reddy, Jagan reprimanded him and said that he shouldn’t have declared his candidature in a press conference and could have said that the Party High Command will decide and that he respects its decision as final.

Apparently, Jagan also pointed out that Subba Reddy made a mistake. This has caused deep disappointment in Subba Reddy who walked out of Jagan’s residence. Adding to this displeasure, Y.V’s hopes were dashed when Jagan told him that he will not be getting the requested seat. Upset with Jagan’s move, Y.V Subba Reddy did not attend Jagan’s house-warming ceremony nor was he present at the new party office inauguration.

Imran Khan’s statement to release Air Force Pilot Abhinandan Varthaman has come as a big surprise to many including Indian media, global media. Particularly, Pakistan has made the announcement with no conditions. This has really left many in shock as well as celebration in India.

But here is a speculation that is doing the rounds. As per inside buzz, Pakistan reportedly bowed down to mounting international pressure. As Pakistan has already been cornered globally over its inaction against terrorism on its soil, it is under immense pressure. Even Pakistan’s close aide China, which was expected to extend support to Pakistan, has not supported Pakistan and instead it has called for restraint of both India and Pakistan. China’s silence in the matter seems to have left Pakistan in deep shock and it must have understood that the country is being isolated globally.

Meanwhile, it is buzzed that Saudi Arabia and United States also said to have mounted their pressure on Pakistan to release the Air Force Pilot Abhinandan who was found captive of. Even during Kerala Flood, Saudi has come forward for a great help to India which was later gently turned down by India. Given India’s powerful friends and its global relations, Pakistan seems to have changed its mind and it started positioning itself as “anti-Terror” nation.

Whatever may be the reasons, releasing of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is a big relief and a happy moment for all Indians.

The BJP High Command is readying the ground for Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to contest polls from Karnataka. The BJP, which has a good stronghold in Karnataka in the South, believes that instead of nominating her for the Rajya Sabha, she could actually contest polls in the upcoming General Elections.

Apparently, this idea cropped up soon after the situation in the country changed following India-Pakistan tensions and how India has been receiving support and good from its people as well as the international community. The BJP leadership believes that this will benefit the party in the upcoming elections and help Nirmala win in case she contests.

As the Defence Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman has gained wide appreciation for being second only to Indira Gandhi in such a key and powerful position in India. Given that she is an MP from Karnataka now, the BJP is exploring options to make her contest from Bangalore.

The BJP High Command is mulling over giving Ananth Kumar Hegde’s (the leader who passed away late last year) seat to Nirmala Sitharaman. The Bengaluru South Parliamentary seat which was contested by Hegde, on the other hand, could be taken up by his wife Tejaswini, say BJP sources. In such as a case, there are chances that BJP High Command could look for another Parliamentary seat for Nirmala to contest.

While Tamilnadu, Nirmala’s home state, also came up for discussion among BJP leaders, it is believed that she doesn’t enjoy popularity and could be difficult for her to contest from the seat. All in all, looks like our Defence Minister will finally contesting for Lok Sabha if the BJP sources are to be believed.

Islamabad: The captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot will be freed on Friday “as a peace gesture”, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Thursday.

Addressing a joint session of the National Assembly, Khan said the India-Pakistan situation should not “get out of hand” otherwise “Pakistan will have to retaliate”, the Dawn reported.

“Countries are ruined because of miscalculation,” said Khan. Alleging “war hysteria” in India, he said: “I’m afraid there might be a miscalculation.

“War is not a solution. If India takes any action, we will have to retaliate.”

The joint session of Parliament was called to discuss the rising tensions with India.

“The only purpose of our strike (on India on Wednesday) was to demonstrate our capability and will,” said the Prime Minister. “We did not want to inflict any casualty on India as we wanted to act in a responsible manner.”

He said he tried to call Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the telephone on Wednesday because “escalation is not in our interests nor in India’s”.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of the IAF was captured by Pakistanis on Wednesday after his MiG was shot down and fell in Pakistani territory during a dogfight.

Following the Indian Air Force’s surgical strikes on the Pakistan supported terror camps in the POK and the subsequent retaliation by Pakistan, there has been a war like situation across the border. Citizens of both countries are observing the events unfold with bated breath.

But, here is actor turned politician Pawan Kalyan who says that he knew that the Indo-Pak war will definitely take place just before the upcoming general elections. “I was told 2 years back that a war will definitely take place just before the elections. So you can understand how things are,” Pawan said during his ongoing tour in Kadapa.

Pawan’s superficial revelation has witnessed severe criticism on social media. “If you had any credible information, why didn’t you alert the government or the intelligence beforehand?,” asked a netizen. Many are of the opinion that celebs and politicians must act responsibly and refrain from making such fly on the wall statements especially when there is a tense and war-like situation across the border.

A couple of days ago, this evangelist cum political leader has given an official statement: “I spoke to Trump, and advised Modi as well about the things he has to do. Then I spoke to Khan as well saying that going for war is not the solution. Only a couple of phone calls from me will stop the war”, said KA Paul, the president of the Praja Shanti Party.

In the wake of these comments, those who don’t believe and will not get carried away by Paul’s comments are also asking why he hasn’t made those phone calls now. Now that our Wing Commander was caught by Pak Army and both the nations are at loggerheads over the same, isn’t it KA Paul’s responsibility to call up his friend Trump and others to take immediate action?

It’s easy to make comments on the political platform and more easier to sling mud at others. But when something happens for real, standing up and delivering the needs are the most challenging things. If KA Paul is a serious politician and wants to do something for Telugu folks or the whole of India, this is the time he has to show his true potential. So, where is KA Paul now?

For quite some time, Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been going all out to woo nearly 5.50 lakh employees in the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.

He has provided all the facilities for employees who moved from Hyderabad to Amaravati; gave them a five-day week; increased their retirement age from 58 to 60; gave them an additional increment to overcome the problems of bifurcation; arranged special accommodation from women employees etc.

Very recently, he announced handsome interim relief pending the submission of pay-revision commission report.

And on Thursday, Naidu admitted former AP NGOs Association president Ashok Babu into Telugu Desam Party and gave him the MLC ticket under MLAs’ quota, in an obvious move to appease the employees.

At the same time, Naidu has sought to appease Kapu community by giving the MLC seat to Ashok Babu, who took voluntary retirement form the post of Assistant Commercial Tax Officer to join active politics.

Apparently, Naidu is of the hope that even if four lakh employees and their family members vote for the TDP, he would get at least 16-17 lakh votes, which will make a huge difference for the party in the event of a tough contest.

Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu seems to be getting isolated within his family for his attempt to promote his own son Nara Lokesh at the cost of others.

His close relatives and acquaintances are joining Naidu’s rival camp – YSR Congress party one after the other. His co-brother Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao and his son Hitesh Chenchuram formally joined the YSRC in the presence of party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in Hyderabad on Thursday.

At the same time, another close relative Narne Srinivasa Rao also met Jagan and joined the party. Narne’s wife Naga Mallika is the niece of Naidu and his daughter Lakshmi Pranathi got married to Junior NTR with the blessings of Naidu.

Narne said he had joined the YSRC because he was impressed with the leadership of Jaganmohan Reddy.

“I have been maintaining good relationship with the YSR family for 10 years. And my only ambition is to see Jagan as the chief minister of AP,” he said.

He took pot shots at Naidu to defend his entry into the YSRC.

“Naidu has miserably failed to provide leadership to the state. The administration has collapsed under Naidu’s regime,” he said and asserted that development of the state was possible only under the leadership of Jagan.

It is learnt Narne has requested for the YSRC ticket for Pedakurapadu assembly seat. But he told media that he had joined the party unconditionally.

“Wherever the party president asks me to contest, I will contest. Even if I don’t get the party ticket, I don’t mind,” he said.

While Narne clarified that his joining the YSRC had nothing to do with his son-in-law Jr NTR, he parried a question whether he would request his son-in-law to campaign for him.